The Albuquerque
Value Place is now setting aside 55 of its 121 rooms for veterans who participate
in programs offered by the New Mexico
Veterans' Integration Center.This
unique private company and Veterans' Administration partnership is the first of its
kind in the nation.
"This
will mean a significant upgrade for the veterans and their families," said
John Garcia, Secretary of New Mexico Veterans' Affairs."The IntegrationCenter
will continue its mission to serve these families, but in a bigger and more
modern facility."
The New Mexico
Veterans' Integration Center offers a variety of services to its
participants, including healthcare screening, counseling and job training.All programs are designed to help
participants fully assimilate to civilian life.It is the only such veterans' facility in the country.
A Value Place - Veterans' IntegrationCenter
partnership kick-off event was recently held at the Albuquerque Value Place.Among those attending the event were
Secretary Garcia; Senator
Tim Keller (D-NM); Representative Martin
Heinrich (D-NM); and NM Senator Tom
Udall (D-NM).
David
Johnston, COO for one of Value Place's largest franchise groups, Quanah Hospitality Partners, and
George Houser, Value Place Property Manager, also attended the event.Johnston and Houser were both instrumental in
initiating and solidifying the partnership, and were recognized for their
efforts to do so.
"We are
extremely honored to have this opportunity to help these veterans in their time
of need," said Johnston, a veteran himself who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam
War."It's the least we can do for the
men and women who've served our country.It's our way of now serving them," he said.
Last
weekend, on May 16, the U.S. Department of Defense celebrated Armed Forces Day.In light of this observance, all of us at Value Place want to
thank our military service men and women for supporting and protecting our
great country.
For those
of you who are not familiar with Armed Forces Day, here is a little
history.The observance was established
in 1949 to replace separate Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Days. The
single-day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under
one department -- the Department of Defense.Click here
for more information.
Value Place
is very proud to provide quality, secure and affordable extended stay lodging
to military members and their families in numerous communities located near U.S. military
bases, including:
In
fact, one of our military guests who works at Fort Leavenworth was our grand prize winner
of the Value Place$50K
Refer-a-Stay Giveaway sweepstakes. He has been very pleased with his
experience while staying with us.Click here to see him being
presented a $50,000 check, and hear his comments about his stay at Value Place.
If you're
like the thousands of other Americans who entered the Value Place $50K Refer-A-Stay Giveaway
sweepstakes, you've been anxiously awaiting this announcement.Our $50,000 grand prize winner has been
randomly selected, and to our delight, we discovered that he is a guest in our Liberty, MO,
property.
Watch the excitement unfold, and see
Value Place
staff surprise the winner with a $50,000 check during a suspense-filled, "American
Idol"-style awards event.Click here to view the video.
For those
of you who didn't watch the video, the $50,000 winner is...
Albert
Stubbs of Virginia!Congratulations!!
More than
50 guests, including Liberty's
mayor and Chamber of Commerce
members, gathered at the Value
Place on April 2nd to find out who the
winner was.Albert was absolutely
overwhelmed and shocked when his name was called.Really... if you didn't watch the video,
you're missing out!
About our Winner
Albert has
been an Army man for 22 years, and is touted by our property staff as one of
the nicest and smartest people you'll ever meet.He's been staying with us since September, 2008,
when he accepted an installation food program manager position at Fort Leavenworth.
We thought
you'd be interested in knowing that Albert left our property for a five-week
military assignment the day after receiving the $50K prize.However, he likes his Value Place studio so much that he's
paying to keep it while he's gone.
"It's hard
to find a place that has everything you need, so when I found this room at Value Place, I knew I didn't
want to give it up," said Albert. "My
colleagues used to question why I stayed at Value Place versus an apartment
closer to the base, but after I explained that out of all the places I've
traveled to and stayed in the past, I felt the safest, most comfortable and
most at home at Value Place, it all made sense to them," Albert said.
Cashing In
So, you may
be wondering what Albert plans to do with the cash.Though he initially joked he'd use the winnings
for a big spending spree, Albert actually plans to put most of it toward
education.His wife is currently earning
her degree, and his 15-year-old daughter is starting to look at colleges. He also plans to do some work on his home in
New Kent.
Value
Place is honored to have Albert as our guest and winner, and we thank him for serving
our country.What a great feeling to
award the grand prize to such a great American!
Posted by gkossover on November 9, 2007 at 3:15 PM
I am Greg Kossover, CEO of Value Place.November 11 is Veterans Day.On behalf of everyone at Value Place, I would like to sincerely
thank the brave men and women of our Armed Forces for protecting our country
and enabling all of us to enjoy the freedoms we have today.
Value Place employs dozens of veterans, and we also have several
extended stay hotels located near U.S.
military bases in cities such as Junction City, KS; Fayetteville, NC; Killeen, TX; and Jacksonville,
FL.We are proud to serve our American heroes and
their families in these communities by offering them quality, affordable
lodging.
In observance of Veterans Day, Value Place will honor our Value Place vets
during a special celebration at our home office in Wichita, KS.How will you or your company honor our
nation's troops and veterans?I invite
you to post a comment and share your plans.
